Hammond holds on for close win over Dreher
Hammond coach Mark McClam is glad the calendar still reads December and not late February.
The Skyhawks continued a trend that sees them start slowly but respond in the second half to win. It happened again Friday night in Day 2 of the Bojangles’ Bash, as Hammond held off Dreher 52-41 in front of an overflow crowd at Ridge View.
Hammond (5-0) trailed by double digits in the first half of its past two games – wins over Brookland-Cayce and Wilson Hall. They never trailed against the Blue Devils, but sloppy play made it a one-possession contest in the third quarter.
“We were down the past two games by 15 in the first half because we started poorly,” McClam said. “We won both, but we’ve faced some adversity so far and responded well in the second half in spurts. We did it again, but hope we don’t start relying on that.”
Chevez Goodwin finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Seventh Woods added 14 points and five steals. Even though those two form a solid nucleus from last season’s state championship team, McClam understands this team has to be better.
“We have three or four guys that are playing quality minutes that were on the JV last year,” he said. “Plus, we have several football guys just coming out. So about 6 in our top 10 is still learning and getting their legs. We’re not in sync yet, but we’ll get better.”
The one thing that disappointed McClam was the 24 turnovers.
“The turnovers are very uncharacteristic of us,” he said. “We averaged about 12 last year, and that number is way higher so far this season.”
Dreher (5-4) trimmed a 26-17 halftime deficit to 28-25, but never got closer. The Blue Devils lost 95 percent of their scoring and 96 percent of their rebounds from last season’s team that featured Tevin Mack, a current freshman at Texas.
Simon Grant scored 16 points to lead the Blue Devils. They shot 30 percent from the field and had 19 turnovers, but DiBattisto was pleased how they played a team of Hammond’s caliber.
“We have a small margin of error and every possession counts for us,” Dibattisto said. “We have to make layups and not turn the ball over, and we didn’t do a very good job of either of those things tonight. Honestly, we played hard and I’m proud of them. We just made too many mistakes against a good team.”
Hammond 52, Dreher 41
D – Simon Grant 16, Glover 8, Hampton 7, Parr 6, Green 3, Brown 1. H - Chevez Goodwin 20, Seventh Woods 14, Jonathan Yuchmow 10, Turner 8. REC: Hammond 5-0, Dreher 5-4
Ridge View 62, Trinity Christian 61
TC – Joey Baker 12, Cameron Campbell 13, Ethan Herring 12, Gantt 8, Martin 8, Boykin 4, Schmitt 3, Marshall 1. RV – Xavier Mason 18, Kaiden Rice 16, Cainan Griffin 12, Khalil Lewis 12, Johnson 4. REC: RV 3-0, TC 7-3.
Zion Lutheran 72, Northwestern 59
ZL - Brandon Bornelus 19, Dylan Mulder 16, Valentino Gifford 14, Rafael Baldassi 10, Abaev 7, Louis 6. NW – Jaquarius Clowney 17, Myliek Durham 13, Walls 6, Cabrera-Gonzalez 6, Crockett 4, Locke 4, Brown 3, Martin 2, Westbrook 2, Traore 2. REC: Zion Lutheran 7-2, Northwestern 3-4
Spring Valley 92, Miami Country Day 78
MCD – Anthony Cambo 28, Ibrahim Doumbia 25, Michael Lynott 15, Escalante 5, Stier 2, Charles 2, Kaye 1. SV – Deangelo Ward 25, Noah Harper 21, Jordan Bruner 13, Javondii Myers 11, T. Bruner 8, Jones 5, Alicea 4, Smith 3, Wall 1, Davis 1. REC: Miami Country Day 2-5
Schedule
SATURDAY
Westwood vs. Dreher, 12:30 p.m.
Dutch Fork vs. Miami Country Day, 2 p.m.
Gray Collegiate vs. Zion Lutheran (Fla), 3:30 p.m.
Trinity Christian (NC) vs. Spring Valley, 5 p.m.
Miami Country Day at Ridge View, 6:30 p.m.
Hammond vs. A.C. Flora, 8 p.m.
This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 11:29 PM.